Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
4 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,817 Year: 3,074/9,624 Month: 919/1,588 Week: 102/223 Day: 0/13 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Francis Collins and Theistic Evolution (Re: the book "The Language of God")
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1445 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 46 of 46 (323721)
06-20-2006 3:23 AM
Reply to: Message 45 by GDR
06-20-2006 12:29 AM


These aren't miracles you're talking about
If we accept God in the role of father, (or parent if you wish), why would we expect him just to set things in motion then disappear. Hopefully as parents we don't do that. I can't see why it is so hard to believe that God intervenes supernaturally in the universe He supernaturally created.
You are raising some pretty complicated theological issues that I don't know much about. I don't have a problem with miracles at all, but the Creation is presented as a foundational thing, a finished thing, from which God rested. It makes no sense to me to think of God "tweaking" His Creation willynilly here and there after establishing it.
And yes, I think the reason He doesn't do that has to be that He has created a lawful universe that can be studied by science, and He doesn't play tricks on us. Once it's been put in place it has to operate in a predictable way if He doesn't want to drive His human creation crazy.
Also why should He need to tweak anything? He's omniscient and He's perfect, He knows from the very beginning exactly how everything is going to play out.
I do believe that theology tells us that God maintains or upholds His Creation at all times, and that if He didn't it would all collapse or disappear. I'm not sure what that is based on or what it means, but it certainly implies a present God rather than a distant God.
But none of this is what a miracle is. Miracle is God's intentional interference with the laws He set in motion for the purpose of demonstrating that He is God who has this power. This is the only reason He ever performed a miracle. Jesus performed healings and other miracles for the same purpose. In the sight of people so that they would recognize His identity.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 45 by GDR, posted 06-20-2006 12:29 AM GDR has not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024